


August

by SilverStudios5140



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Consensual Underage Sex, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Kissing, Late Night Conversations, Loss of Virginity, Love Confessions, Mentioned Kagami Taiga, Pro Basketball Player Himuro Tatsuya, Reader-Insert, Reunions, Strangers to Lovers, Summer Love, Summer Romance, Teenage Dorks, Timeskips, Walks On The Beach, pretty boy himuro tatsuya
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25734574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverStudios5140/pseuds/SilverStudios5140
Summary: His smile shifts into something else as he nods. Something secretive and amused. Like he knows something she hasn’t caught onto yet.When she’d left the hotel room to take a walk, (Name) hadn’t thought she’d end up meeting someone to acquaint herself with, but she doesn’t think it’s a bad thing at all.Tatsuya seems to know something she doesn’t. She wonders if he’ll tell her.
Relationships: Himuro Tatsuya/Reader
Comments: 6
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

(Surname) (Name) never thought of herself as the ‘summer romance’ type.

The thing about summer romance is that more often than not, it is finite. And more often than not, there is always the hope for more even in the knowledge of bittersweet endings that will only lead to heartache.

Everyone knows this, naturally. When you get into a holiday fling, you get into it fully expecting that it will end when you inevitably have to leave the hazy summer dream and return to your average routines of life. But that knowledge has never deterred those who fall victim to the temptation that hangs in the air much like the smell of salt on the sea breeze.

The idea of something being so consuming is more than a little scary given its notoriously temporary nature.

But she is only human after all, and when she runs into Tatsuya Himuro on the beaches of San Clementine, California, she’s too caught up in the heady smell of the sea and the warm air clinging to her skin to have clear foresight of what is to come when he offers her a slight smile of acknowledgment that is almost enough to convince her that he is but a mirage because she doesn’t think she has ever seen something quite so enticing.

They don’t know each other. He’s just another stranger, regardless of the fact that he obviously looks to be about her age. But by this time in the evening, the beach is empty enough for no one else to be in their immediate vicinity and there is something in the August air that gently nudges her to throw caution to the wind and approach the cute boy at the bay because his smile is so clearly an invitation that she doesn’t want to deny.

Maybe her unsurety is obvious in her approach because the boy speaks before she has even fully made it to him.

“Hello.”

And it’s so simple, really, but it’s friendly and open, and (Name) sinks into the warmth of the offer, allowing some of her apprehension to slip away so she can respond to him, “Hey.”

Now that she’s closer, she can see his features better in whatever light the setting sun is able to provide, and for just a moment, she has to remind herself how to breathe again. It takes only a few seconds for her to pull herself together but it feels like a lot longer to (Name) as she gapes at the boy who she can only think of as unbelievably beautiful.

There’s an inherent sort of softness in the way his features are set, and he would’ve looked more androgynous were it not for his stature and broad shoulders. If he hadn’t been smiling at her, he might’ve even looked too intimidating for her to approach, but he isn’t projecting any sort of impatience or irritation, so she doesn’t yet consider the most convenient escape routes.

“It’s a beautiful sunset, isn’t it?” he asks, turning to look at the crimson sun as it dips below the horizon and stains the ocean with its reds and yellows. The glint of it reflects against the shine of his dark hair and catches her eye.

(Name) hums. “It is,” she agrees, but she isn’t looking at the sun.

The boy returns his gaze to her, his expression hard to read for the fleeting moment that lasts until he smiles again, allowing his mouth to curve upwards ever so slightly. “I’m Tatsuya Himuro,” he says, quieter now, holding out his hand.

She looks down at it, blinking back her surprise. Something about his image had her expecting flawlessly smooth skin, but his hands look tough and worn. Interesting. She takes it in her own and notes that his fingertips are cold despite the heat of the season as she shakes it politely. “(Name) (Surname). Nice to meet you, Tatsuya.”

His smile shifts into something else as he nods. Something secretive and amused. Like he knows something she hasn’t caught onto yet.

When she’d left the hotel room to take a walk, (Name) hadn’t thought she’d end up meeting someone to acquaint herself with, but she doesn’t think it’s a bad thing at all.

Tatsuya seems to know something she doesn’t. She wonders if he’ll tell her.

* * *

They only hang out for a little over an hour, but (Name) learns a fair amount about him in that time anyways.

Tatsuya is sixteen-years-old, has lived in LA since he moved there from Japan at age four, loves basketball more than anyone else (Name) knows personally, and is very good at avoiding questions by twisting them and turning them back at her. He has a scar on his ankle, and a beauty mark just below his bottom lip that is practically unnoticeable when compared to the more obvious one under his eye.

He also gives her his number before they part ways, asking if they could hang out again because it’s a little boring while his parents are off fishing in the evening and he liked talking to her enough to want to do it again.

The curve of his mouth isn’t quite hopeful, but it’s almost there, and (Name) finds that she can’t remember what refusal is in the face of that expression being aimed at her.

Later, while she’s lying in bed that night, she thinks that there’s a certain distance Tatsuya maintains in the way he talks and carries himself around her. Like he isn’t really lying, but he also isn’t being quite as earnest as she thinks he’d like her to believe. Everything he says feels measured and composed, and sometimes, his smiles are more mechanical than real.

He intrigues her in ways he probably didn’t mean to, but her curiosity spurs her on to agree when he asks if she’s free to spend time with him again and that part, at least, is something she knows he intended.

For whatever reason, Tatsuya is interested enough in her to want to talk to her again. And for better or for worse, she’s interested enough in him too to return to the beach at his request.

“How long are you here for?” he asks her, leaning back to rest against his elbows as they sit on the cooling sand together, looking out at the sea.

“A month,” she answers, looking away from the ring that hangs on a chain around his neck as it catches the light for a second.

Tatsuya whistles. “Long holiday.”

Shrugging, she concedes, “My dad says it helps inspire him to write.” She turns to him, peering down at his closed eyes and carefree expression. “What about you?”

He opens one eye, training it on her before closing it again and falling back into the sand completely, folding his arms behind his head leisurely. His hair falls away from his face as he does so and she starts with the realization that she hasn’t seen his full face without his fringe getting in the way before.

“I’m moving back to Japan in September,” he tells her, voice light and airy in a deliberate manner. “On my own. My parents figured we’d take a long trip so they can spend time with me before I leave.” Now, he grins, wide and amused as his eyes open to squint at the blue-gray sky that reflects against his stormy gray irises. “They seem to be spending most of that time together than with me though.”

Huffing out a laugh, she faces the sea, unable to keep a smile of contentment off her face. “I guess there’s a certain romance in the air here,” she comments, tilting her head to the side. “Warm summer afternoons in a seaside town. Make you want to spend them with someone, you know?”

Tatsuya looks thoughtful, glancing at her briefly. “You think so?” There’s a lilt to the way he says these words, implying something playful that she can’t glean from his blank face.

“It'd be boring here if you were on your own,” she points out, “so, yeah, I think so.”

He hums, shooting her a quick boyish grin that she wouldn't have thought would suit his elegant features but strangely looks at home on his face. “Well, I'm glad not to be on my own then.”

She isn't even sure if that counts as flirting at all, but his words soak into her skin and make her feel like it's suddenly a smidge hotter than it was just a moment ago. The comment screams of intentional teasing and she thinks she'd rather be buried in the sand than give Tatsuya the satisfaction of flustering her as she suspects he'd set out to do.

in the art of using his words to get a rise out of people for his own entertainment. Then it goes to prove that he knows his looks evoke a certain image and uses that to throw people off their axes by messing with them too subtly to get called out on his mischief.

Clearing her throat, she decides a change of topic is necessary for her own sake. “You're an only child then?” she asks instead, noting that he's on his own and has made no mention of any siblings so far.

An odd look crosses his face at the question—something that looks almost like bitterness or resentment, but it passes too quickly for her to really place it. “Yeah,” Tatsuya answers. “My parents were pretty happy with just me.”

“Or you were such a terror that they didn't want to risk another gremlin,” she says, deciding that Tatsuya deserves some snark.

He narrows his eyes at her, glaring with no heat behind the expression. “For your information, I was a wonderful child.”

Smiling blandly, she hums. “Not sure if I'm entirely convinced, but okay.”

“What—you don't believe me?”

She shrugs. “I don't know. I don't believe that you didn't try to use those angelic visuals of yours to try and stir up some trouble as a kid. In fact, I won't be surprised if you do that even now.”

Instead of replying to that, Tatsuya turns on his side, propping his head up and blinking exaggeratedly at her, widening his eyes in mock innocence for good measure. “Angelic visuals?”

Sneering, she pushes his forehead away with one finger. “Of course, that's your only takeaway. I have eyes, you know, and I am fully capable of seeing your face. That's all there is to it.”

Tatsuya doesn't even try to smother his laughter, falling back to lie flat on his back again. “You're a lot bolder than I imagined, (Name).”

The statement gives her some pause as she thinks it over. His expectation isn't wrong, honestly. (Name) _isn't_ that bold in general, especially not with people she doesn't really know yet. But, somehow, it's easier to feel confident and brave enough to blatantly say what she's thinking here—on this beach, with this boy. The banter comes to her without thought, and she doesn't mind occasionally taking the lead in this strange back-and-forth Tatsuya likes to initiate with her.

His teasing makes her worry about losing her cool and tripping over herself, but she also finds herself enjoying the effort of returning the little digs word for word.

It's easier to let loose in the air they've created around themselves. It's easier to lower her guard and act on the confidence that comes and goes like the waves of the ocean that keeps them company. It's easier to spend these long hours with him and feel like no time has passed at all. It's easier to pretend like she doesn't know exactly where this is going.

Tatsuya doesn't have to tell her what it was that had him secretly amused since they introduced themselves to each other the previous day. She thinks she might already know too.

“I'm a little surprised,” he adds, gaze trained on her with renewed interest, like she's a puzzle he's slowly putting together.

Holding his gaze puts a hitch in her breath and hastens her pulse so it beats lowly in her ears, but she can't bring herself to look away either. She doesn't think anyone has ever looked at her with so much focus and intent, and intense doesn't quite feel like the right word but her vocabulary is failing her when she feels like she's burning up in the most pleasant way possible.

This acquaintance is temporary; she knows this without a doubt. Whatever this is and whatever it may become over the course of this month is temporary, and as soon as they part ways, it will be left behind in the memories of a summer at the beach. But it's a rush to be feeling like this with a stranger who feels far too familiar when he pokes fun at her and tells her she's interesting, and something about all of this is enticing in a way that she thinks might be close to what freefalling is like.

It's deliciously tempting, and now that the thought has taken root in her mind, she can't quite ignore it as it draws goosebumps across her skin and sends a shiver down her spine, feeling mildly electric even as just an idea.

Tatsuya's smile morphs fully into that look of smug knowledge, but this time, they're both in on the secret and he knows it too.

She wonders if there really is something in the air after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s a little hard to believe,” she says finally, and as soon as the intensity in his gaze ebbs, she looks away from him and to the waves rolling beneath them. “When I came here, I was expecting to spend the better part of my time by myself in my hotel room, but instead, I ran into you.”
> 
> “And?”
> 
> Her mouth quirks up, but the smile feels wry on her own lips. “And it’s different. You are different.” She exhales slowly, tipping her head back to blink at the now inky sky, her shoulders hunching slightly. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Tatsuya’s family has rented a cabin to live in for the duration of their month-long trip, and that’s where she agrees to meet him when he asks if she wants to go sightseeing with him. She agrees easily, not bothering to tell him that she has probably been to most of the tourist attractions San Clemente has to offer with her father already.

“Have you made sure to get your tetanus shot recently?” she asks the moment he swings the door open to step out, offering no other preemptive greeting to him.

He’s thrown off by the sudden question, his smile dying on his lips before it can properly even take shape as he blinks blankly. “Huh?”

“This door is probably the rustiest thing I’ve ever seen,” she informs, gesturing at the door he’s in the process of easing shut behind himself. “Seriously, though, please consult with a doctor. You never kn—”

He cuts her off with a laugh, grabbing her arm to pull her into step with him, muttering an unhurried “Shut up” as he does so. He’s wearing an easy smile that seems more genuine than the ones she usually sees on him, and (Name) is proud to have put it there.

“I’m genuinely concerned though,” she continues, unable to keep the grin off her own face when Tatsuya laughs at her little charade. “Are we sure people should be putting up with those living conditions?”

He shakes his head, threading his fingers through his hair to push the strands away from his face. It doesn’t work and they fall back into place, and Tatsuya gives up with a huff almost instantly, seemingly used to fighting the losing battle. “You can’t help it in a place like this,” he points out. “Metal doesn’t last long by the seaside anyways.”

“Still,” she insists, grumbling quietly. “So much for maintenance.”

Shooting her a close-lipped smile, he nudges her shoulder with his own, his messenger bag bumping into her hip as he does so. “I’m flattered you’re so worried about me.”

The phrase isn’t teasing or implicative on its own, but Tatsuya says it in a way that has her narrowing her eyes at him. He’s suggesting something that she isn’t sure she wants to read into because she isn’t sure of _this_ at all, and her brain whirs to keep up with him as he leads her effortlessly into this new whirlwind of sensations and thoughts.

His presence forces her to pay attention to him like he is what lies at the center of the universe, demanding she keep her eyes open and her senses sharp lest she miss a cue and trip over own feet because Tatsuya won’t give her the option of falling behind.

And she wants to keep up with him. The newness of what he brings with him throws her mind into overdrive and has her fumbling in unsurety but it’s _fun,_ and (Name) likes that he makes her feel more…free. He makes her feel more interesting than she has ever thought herself to be, and the confidence it fuels her with is heady and intoxicating and she likes how it pulls the world into focus and makes everything look newer.

They spend hours walking together, and by the end of it, she isn’t even sure what she saw all day but she does remember the way he snorted when she got ice cream on her nose, his eyes lighting up as he reached to swipe his thumb across and wipe the cream off her face. She remembers feeling her heartbeat thrum with warmth that tingled in her fingertips and toes, entirely unrelated to the heat of the summer. She remembers their shoulders brushing every so often and the faint self-satisfaction on his face when he grabbed her hand to pull her out of someone else’s way and didn’t let go for the rest of the day.

She remembers thinking that the world must’ve been painted in brighter, warmer colors overnight because it felt like she was seeing everything for the first time again. She remembers feeling like everyone else was in fast forward even though time itself felt slower with him at her side, and it threw her for a loop but the dizziness only made it easier for her to laugh along with him; made her feel braver than she really is.

They’re sitting on the edge of the pier, legs dangling and thighs pressed together. He’s leaning back, weight against his palms as he throws his head back and closes his eyes against the twilight sky and the tiny stars that wink at them from overhead. She watches him, unable to look away as the rest of the town’s lights from behind them fade and blur together in the edges of her vision.

This moment, as it is, takes her breath away and (Name) finds herself trying to memorize everything about it with an urgency she can’t explain even to herself. She doesn’t know how or why, but she does know that she’ll want to remember how it feels to sit beside this beautiful boy and watch the faint golden glow of the lights around them frame him, reflecting off his dark hair and pale face.

“You’re staring,” he notes, lips twitching slightly, eyes opening lazily.

She blinks, trying very hard not to flush in embarrassment. “Sorry,” she offers, but she doesn’t look away and after a moment of just holding her gaze, Tatsuya pushes himself up to sit straight.

His eyes look darker at this time of night, and it’d be hard to figure out what their actual color is if she didn’t already know. But he is close enough for her to try and pick out all the gleaming lights that reflect off his irises, and she’s oddly mesmerized by the world that swims in the color of his eyes, wondering what he would do if she leaned in now to get a better look.

“Are you really?” he asks, tilting his head as he regards her with what she thinks might be shrewd scrutiny that could even be mistaken as something unkind. “You don’t seem very genuine to me.”

He’s challenging her; clearly wanting something out of this conversation, and his intent has the hairs on her arms rising as she tries not to fidget under his sharp stare. Maybe she doesn’t know what he wants from her. Maybe she’s pretending not to know because it’s easier to feign ignorance in matters like these.

Except Tatsuya doesn’t seem to be in the habit of avoiding confrontations, and she doesn’t think he’ll let her avoid this either because he’s looking for something and he wants it from her.

That knowledge only puts more pressure on her, burdening her to say the right thing because she so desperately wants to meet his expectations even though she doesn’t really know _why_.

“What would you say if I told you I wasn’t really sorry?” she asks, lacing her fingers together in her lip, wanting to look away from him but also finding herself unable to.

Tatsuya’s eyebrows rise slightly, a pleasant sort of surprise passing over his face quickly that sets her on edge even further because a renewed focus only makes his gaze sharper and it makes it hard to breathe to have his attention solely centered on her. “I’d ask why you were staring,” he answers, words little more than a murmur, and she has to try very hard to not let her gaze drop to his mouth as he pronounces the syllables.

She thinks the answer is perfectly obvious, but as she chases after words to string into coherence, they elude her and she is left blinking at him. The world holds its breath around them, all the surrounding noise falling away until there is nothing but him and her. There is a poignant pause in the air that makes her feel like she is being tested somehow, and she wishes that she could just know all the right things to say in response to him.

“Does it bother you?” she finds herself asking, evading the question for now.

Tatsuya frowns, clearly displeased by the avoidance. “I’m just curious,” he says, shrugging. “I’ve seen you do it before too.”

Everything about this conversation is entirely unlike Tatsuya’s usually subtle advances. It’s intense and the impatience driving it is thinly veiled, like its simmering just under the surface, threatening to bubble over the longer she tries to push it away for. There’s the sense of finality, but she can’t say she is as surprised she perhaps ought to be.

“It’s a little hard to believe,” she says finally, and as soon as the intensity in his gaze ebbs, she looks away from him and to the waves rolling beneath them. “When I came here, I was expecting to spend the better part of my time by myself in my hotel room, but instead, I ran into you.”

“And?”

Her mouth quirks up, but the smile feels wry on her own lips. “And it’s different. _You_ are different.” She exhales slowly, tipping her head back to blink at the now inky sky, her shoulders hunching slightly. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

The distance between them hasn’t lessened physically, but he feels a lot closer when he quietly asks, “Like what?”

Breath hitching as his voice washes over her, (Name) swallows against the growing nervousness blooming inside her chest, feeling like a hummingbird is trapped within her ribcage. “Been so open with someone I’ve known for like a week,” she poses, musing aloud in the way she phrases her words. “It’s not like we’ve known each other for long, but,” she pauses for a moment, turning back to him, “it kind of feels like we have.” There’s a lull as he waits for her to finish, and she shrugs almost helplessly. “This is new to me, Tatsuya—the way I’ve been feeling here with you. So, I’m not all that sorry for staring really. You make it a little hard to look away.”

The admission somehow manages to make her feel lighter and weighed down at the same time, knocking the wind out of her even though she feels she can breathe easier now that the simmering intensity has receded from under the surface of her skin.

But before she can relax, the silence comes to her attention and now she has something else to fret over because Tatsuya is looking at her like he has never seen her before and she has to work very hard not to fidget as he stares at her with wide eyes. The urge to fling herself off the pier is tempting but (Name) squashes down on the thought before she can convince herself it’s a good idea.

“You’re the one staring now,” she points out, muttering under her breath as she ducks her head and looks away from him, trying to tell herself that she’ll be alright even if he says he doesn’t quite feel the same way. If nothing, she hopes he’ll let her down easy.

Tatsuya blinks hard, shaking his head quickly like he’s clearing away fog as he straightens. “I—sorry. I didn’t mean to.” Inhaling deeply, he smiles at her, and it’s gentle and pleased unlike any expression she has seen on him before, softening his features and rounding out the sharpness of his face as he eyes crease at the corners. “You surprised me, is all.”

“Is that, uh, a good thing?”

Slowly, tentatively, he reaches out and takes her hand in his own, linking their fingers together.

“I’d say it is,” he says softly, like he’s trying his best to make it sound like he cares but maybe he doesn’t quite know how to. “I’ve never met anyone quite like you either,” he adds, and there’s an inherent sort of mischief present in his voice that has become familiar enough to her by now to make it easier to breathe again.

She gives his hand a squeeze, offering him a smile that she’s sure looks as awkward and unsure as she feels, but Tatsuya returns it anyways.

He’s closer now than he’d been before, sharing her space more closely than he has ventured to in all the time they’ve spent together, and she stills carefully in the air that lies in wait for something more.

When he moves in closer, her nerves go into overdrive and it’s almost like time slows down just for her so she can clearly map the way he leans in further and watch as his eyes flutter shut, drawing her attention to his eyelashes and the little shadows they cast on the apples of his cheeks. In all this time, the pressure of apprehension keeps building into a tight ball in her chest, making it hard to breathe around it and she doesn’t have the capacity to think and—

And then Tatsuya is kissing her and nothing else really matters.

The world falls away to accommodate for how her nerves seem to be set on fire with how his mouth moves against her own, the pleasantly gentle pressure of his lips seeming to ground her because her stomach flips like she’s freefalling. Tatsuya’s lips are a little chapped and he tastes distinctly of the salt that clings to the air here, and his kiss stings in a way that sends all of her senses into a frenzy even though he’s the only thing she is currently capable of registering and it feels a little bit she might have been set on fire.

His fingertips are cold where they rest against the nape of her neck, and she tries to focus on the contrast between them and her flushed skin when they pull away from the kiss, trying to remember how to respire properly when all she can hear is her own heartbeat and his silvery eyes are peering up at her from underneath his lashes.

Tatsuya looks more striking than ever when his pupils are dilated and his lips are swollen like this, the blush on his cheeks an obvious presence in contrast to his pale skin. The way he’s looking at her right now is too tempting for her to really resist now that the boundary has been crossed, so she doesn’t hesitate any longer to gently brush his hair so she can see his face fully before leaning in to kiss him again.

He lets her, and again when he has walked her back to her hotel room nearly an hour later, pressed against her door so his warmth seeps into her skin and only fuels the urgency with which they chase the taste of each other’s mouths again and again. Neither of them is particularly experienced, but they’re curious and willing to learn in the privacy of her room, arms wrapped around one another, fingers twisting in hair and cloth until they run out of breath.

She feels almost feverish in the way she seems to feel _everything_ and how the rush of him has taken her on a high she’s barely balancing atop of.

“It’s late,” she says finally, hands still gripping onto his shoulders while she takes a moment to feel grateful for the door her back is pressed against because she doesn’t think she’d be able to stand without the support given how her legs feel like jelly.

Tatsuya hums, and she wonders if it’s his experience as an athlete that lets him catch his breath faster than her. “I should get going.”

“Yeah.”

He waits a moment longer before finally stepping away, and she blinks with the realization of just how much warmth they’d been sharing.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” The question is rhetorical, and Tatsuya knows it too from the grin he’s wearing as he watches her carefully step away from the door to be able to open it for him.

Even though she doesn’t need to answer, she does anyways. “You will,” she confirms, clearing her throat when her voice comes out ragged. “Uh, goodnight.”

He waves in goodbye and she waits until he’s gone before shutting the door and stumbling away from it to fall into bed.

Without his presence clouding up her mind, she is more capable of processing what she’d just gotten herself into. She likes Tatsuya, and obviously he returns the sentiment, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this isn’t something that is going to last. Or, well, she assumes so anyways.

It’s dangerous to hope for more from someone she has met over the summer. Especially when she knows that they’re undoubtedly headed for separate ways, and in Tatsuya’s case, that leads him as far away as Japan.

But (Name) can’t find it in herself to regret this either.

She feels like all of her senses are wide awake, her skin still buzzing in all the places it met his. She feels wanted and beautiful and _alive_ in ways she hasn’t felt before, and it’s a heady intoxicating feeling that it makes it hard for her to think of anything beyond the present.

(Name) falls asleep dreaming of stormy gray eyes and salty lips and cold fingertips and doesn’t think of anything else.

The future can wait.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tatsuya probably likes the drama of meeting up behind the mall where there’s hardly anyone to witness when he leans over to kiss her through the open window before she can even get a word in.
> 
> The gleam in his eye is one of immense satisfaction, and she’s defeated before she can think of fighting at all, so she simply sighs and shakes her head at him. “Just get in the car,” she tells him, rolling her eyes for effect and trying in vain to hide her smile when he laughs as he rounds the car to slip into the passenger seat.

She was supposed to spend the day with her dad on a visit to one of his friend’s house, but instead, (Name) finds herself in their rental car, driving out to meet Tatsuya as per his request after offering her father some hurried excuses to get away.

It almost makes her feel like she’s sneaking away and doing something wrong even though there really is nothing unacceptable about the situation at all. She has her driver’s license on her and her dad does know she’s gone to meet Tatsuya, but there’s something about it that could be misconstrued in a more rebellious light.

Tatsuya probably likes the drama of meeting up behind the mall where there’s hardly anyone to witness when he leans over to kiss her through the open window before she can even get a word in.

The gleam in his eye is one of immense satisfaction, and she’s defeated before she can think of fighting at all, so she simply sighs and shakes her head at him. “Just get in the car,” she tells him, rolling her eyes for effect and trying in vain to hide her smile when he laughs as he rounds the car to slip into the passenger seat.

“It’s nice to see you too, (Name),” he says pointedly, but the amusement is written clear as day on his face and he makes no effort to hide it even though he’s fully capable of doing so.

“Why exactly did you want to meet up here like we’re having some sort of secret affair?” she asks immediately, waiting for him to buckle his seatbelt before peeling away from the curb and easing out of the parking lot.

Tatsuya shrugs. “I thought it’d be fun.” He grins when he catches sight of the look on her face. “Were you doing something before this?”

She contemplates telling him that she did, in fact, have to cancel her plans to meet up with him, but she decides against doing so. Something tells her that it’s better not to make her commitment so obvious to Tatsuya. She doesn’t really know how the whole ‘just for the summer’ thing works, but she has a feeling it doesn’t go as far as this.

“No,” she says finally, throwing in a smile for good measure. “I’ve got all day today.”

He blinks at her response, turning to look at her even though she avoids his gaze and diligently keeps her eyes on the road instead. “Well, you’re on a boring holiday, aren’t you?”

It’s bait but she doesn’t rise up to it. “I keep my schedule clear just in case you decide to call me,” she tells him, shooting him a quick wink. Tatsuya doesn’t need to know that the statement hits uncomfortably close to the truth.

“I sure am a lucky guy then, huh?” he drawls, rolling his eyes.

“Better believe it, sweetheart.”

Tatsuya grins at the sarcastic nickname. “I’d love to be your sweetheart, (Name),” he says, faux earnestness dripping off his words as he bats his eyes at her.

She shoots him a quick glare, huffing. “You brat child, Tatsuya Himuro.”

His laughter rings in her ears as they drive down the streets of San Clemente, and (Name) smiles, deciding that it was worth blowing off her plans to spend this time with him.

She knows that they’re headed nowhere, but there is a small part of her that holds onto baseless hope that maybe this will mean something to them beyond the summer. Just because something is fleeting doesn’t mean that it’s any less meaningful, and she knows that affection doesn’t need to come with the promise of forever for it to be real and timeless just the same. But the heart is treacherous, and against all odds and reason, it continues to want.

She wonders if simply wanting will be enough for him too.

“How exactly are you going to go about transferring to a Japanese school in September?” she asks him, diving into a topic she prays is safe. “Don’t they start their school year in spring or something?”

Nodding, he hums in consideration. “I’ll transfer right at the beginning of their second semester actually,” he says, his long fingers tapping rhythmically against the tops of his knees. “It wasn’t an easy process to get all the paperwork through, I’ll tell you that.” He smiles amicably, the picture of easy conversing. “I’ll have some catching up to do, I think, but most of what they learned in the first semester is what we covered in our sophomore year so it shouldn’t be too bad.”

“I don’t know if I’m lazy or if that’s just as unappealing as it sounds,” she comments.

He huffs a laugh. “I don’t mind, honestly,” he says, and he actually sounds sincere. “I’ve got enough incentive in Japan to put up with a little extra schoolwork for a few weeks.”

“Incentive,” she repeats slowly, eyebrows rising. “Like what—returning to your birth country?”

“I mean, I’m sure that’ll be nice too.” Tatsuya side-eyes her for a moment. “But I’ve got something else to look forward to. Someone there owes me and I’m going to make sure I get him to make it up to me.”

Something about the cold edge in his voice reminds her of the sharpened blade of a knife, driving her into a momentary silence. Finally, she tentatively asks, “You feel like elaborating on that or do I just sit in the suspense of how shady that sounds?”

Tatsuya stays quiet long enough for her to think that he really is going to leave her stewing in her own curiosity, but then he breaks the silence to explain, fiddling with the ring he wears on a chain around his neck as he does so. “I had a childhood friend—well, I guess we’ve always been more like brothers really. There’s something I have to settle with him, but he moved back to Japan before we could do that. I don’t intend to let him off the hook this time though.” He catches sight of the look on her face and the intensity in his gaze cracks to let some of his now familiar ease slip back into his countenance. “It’s not as illegal as it sounds, I swear. In fact, it’s not illegal at all.”

She nods in hesitant acceptance, muttering, “If you say so.”

“A high school basketball tournament isn’t going to get violent or unlawful, (Name).”

Blinking, she almost turns to gape at him before remembering that she has to be a responsible driver and responsible drivers don’t do things like that. “Wait, so that whole intense explanation is really about a basketball match?” she asks incredulously. “Man, I’ll never get you athletic types. You just aren’t meant to be one with the common masses, I guess.”

“The common masses,” he repeats, eyebrows rising.

(Name) nods emphatically. “Yeah. You’re like a little niche of sports fanatics and the rest of us are just there in your stories,” she says. “Don’t worry, though. I think it’s nice that you have something you like enough for it to drive you to this extent even if I personally don’t understand what that feels like.”

He smiles, waiting for her to finish parking safely in the lot of the ice cream shop before reaching out to take her hand and give it a squeeze. “I liked your story analogy,” he says, steering the conversation. “It always puts thing into perspective when you remember that everyone around you is the main character of their own story and you’re just a background character in theirs. Humbling, if you will.”

“It’s kind of fun too, isn’t it?” she muses, unbuckling her seatbelt and climbing out of the car, waiting for him to round it to her side before linking their hands again. “We play so many different roles throughout our lives. Strangers, acquaintances, teachers, students, parent-figures, child-figures, friends—”

“Lovers,” he cuts in airily, smoothly pulling her along even though she freezes momentarily at the word. Tatsuya either doesn’t notice her sudden apprehension or chooses to ignore it entirely as he continues in the same easy, conversational tone. “It _is_ cool. You could be just another face on the street or you could be completely unforgettable to someone else, and it all depends on whose story you are currently part of.”

The apprehension continues to build inside her with every second that passes until she feels like the words are choking her. “Will _you_ forget, Tatsuya?” she blurts out finally, regretting having spoken up the moment her question is out in the open. But it’s out now and she can’t just let it be when he has already stilled in wait, wide eyes trained on her in surprise. “When you get to school, will you forget?”

She wonders if he knows what exactly she means, but she doesn’t clarify and neither does he.

Instead, he whispers, “Of course not.”

And it’s the best she honestly can hope for—that she won’t be someone who will blur into memories he can’t pick apart in the future; that he’ll remember her and cherish the memory of the summer he’s spending with her so that even years later it might warm him.

It has to be enough.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tatsuya is quiet for a long moment, but she knows he’s awake by the shapeless patterns he draws against her bare back. “Hey, (Name)?” he begins, smiling when she hums and meets his gaze. “Thank you for trusting me tonight.”
> 
> It’s meaningful and earnest in a way Tatsuya often isn’t, and she’s left breathless for just a second as she takes him in. Scooting forward to press a lingering kiss to his mouth, she hums in content. “Thank you for trusting me as well, Tatsuya.”
> 
> The relationship they share isn't one either of them expects to be something long-lasting or permanent, but in this way at least, they have made themselves each other's in a way that neither will ever forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: explicit sexual content ahead. Please skip this chapter if you're uncomfortable reading that sort of thing.

Name) isn’t Tatsuya’s just as he isn’t hers.

But under the cover of this night, in her room, they’re heading in the direction of become each other’s in a way neither of them can deny or ever forget.

“I’ve never really done this before,” she confesses in a whisper, pulling away from his kiss breathlessly to get the admission out before they get any further than wandering hands finding their ways under clothes to brush against feverish skin. 

Tatsuya offers her a smile, though it’s edging on nervousness too. “Me neither,” he tells her, rubbing tentative circles into her hipbone, pulling back enough so he isn’t in her space, clearly indicating that he’ll respect whatever boundaries she sets. “I don’t want to force you into anything. I get if you don’t want to go any further and—”

“I want to,” she blurts out, her face flushing instantly in the aftermath, and she drops her forehead into the crook of his neck, fingers curling into the material of his t-shirt. “It’s just—I’m a little nervous too.”

His hands are warm against her back as he pulls her close into an embrace. “I am too,” he admits, and she can hear the waver in his voice as he says this. “But maybe we can figure this out together?”

She lifts her head, meeting his gray eyes and seeing the vulnerability he’s feeling reflecting back at her. Slowly, she nods. “Yeah,” she says softly, tentative fingers resting against his shoulders as she lets him balance her on his lap where he’s seated on the edge of the bed. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

“Are you sure?” Tatsuya asks, eyebrows rising.

(Name) bites her lip, nodding finally. “I am. You?”

“I’m sure.”

And that’s all it really takes for some of her nerves to settle, knowing she’s getting into this with someone just as anxious as her even if he’s better at hiding it.

Tatsuya reaches over to pull his shirt off, tossing it across the room unceremoniously, making them exchange looks at the low _thump_ of it hitting a wall. He raises his eyebrows in a silent question, hands hovering over her waist unsurely.

She lifts her arms slowly, letting him pull off her top, although he struggles when it gets caught against her nose and she has to help tug it off. The air is cold against her bare skin, goosebumps rising along her arms as she does her best not to squirm while Tatsuya’s gaze roams down from her bare shoulders, down the curve of her breasts and to her stomach, his hands still warm where they’re settled against the curve of her waist.

He catches her watching him carefully, flashing her a grin immediately. “You’re beautiful,” he murmurs, lips brushing against her own while his fingertips traverse up her spine to unclasp her bra, letting her slip it off at her own pace. He’s being as patient and respectful as he possibly can, recognizing that already this is more skin than she has ever shown anyone else, but his curious fingers ultimately do find their way around her body, ghosting over her arms and sliding up her tummy, calloused palms teasing the sensitive flesh of her breasts, thumbs passing over her nipples and making her breath hitch as a shot of pleasure runs down her spine, pooling in her abdomen.

Pressing a kiss to her collar bone and another to her jaw, he repeats, “You’re beautiful.” His breath is warm against her skin as he trails feathery kisses from the base of her neck to her jaw and finally to her mouth, settling into a deep kiss and taking his time to simple explore her mouth. He pulls away just enough to murmur against her lips, “Thank you for trusting me.”

The warmth she feels now isn’t the heat of arousal. It’s a softer, golden kind of sweetness that flutters in her chest, lifting off the rest of the burden laid by her inexperience. Fondness. Affection. _Trust._

With the way they’re sitting, she is only all too aware of his own arousal as it presses against her, but Tatsuya’s face betrays no impatience at all. His attention is seemingly entirely occupied with kissing her senseless, and when she runs out of breath, his mouth simply traverses down to her neck instead, laying kisses that range from anywhere from butterfly kisses that almost tickle to more open-mouthed ones where he takes the time to work a particular spot into sensitivity with patient licking and sucking that leave her whimpering softly into his hair, trying her hardest not to tremble and failing anyways.

He keeps a steady hand against her back the whole time while the other works on palming her breast, rolling the sensitive peak between his fingers, his ministrations successfully drawing out a breathy moan from her.

“ _Shit,_ are you sure you’ve never done this before?” she asks, throwing her head back involuntarily to allow him better access to her throat.

Tatsuya doesn’t reply immediately but she does feel his smirk against her skin before he pulls away, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “Am I that good?” If he hadn't been wearing his shit-eating grin, she might've answered with something else but he's looking to irritate her so she tweaks his ear in retaliation. His face twists into a scowl as he bats her hand away from his ear. “What was that for?”

“Because you’re annoying when you’re cocky.”

He blinks, slow realization spreading across his face as his lips twitch, right as (Name) realizes what she just said and feels it dawning on her. Tatsuya’s shoulders tremble under her hands with silent laughter, though he does try valiantly to smother it down. “Was that a—”

“No,” she groans, closing her eyes in mortification, “that was not a dick joke. Tatsuya, stop laughing!” Of course, he only gets worse, hiding his face away in the crook of her neck, and she can’t help the giggles as they bubble out of her as well. “God, you’re awful.”

He snorts, loosely wrapping his arms around her and resting his cheek against her shoulder so he can look at her. “I’m not the one who made a dick joke in the middle of a very vulnerable moment for the both of us.”

Rolling her eyes at him, she shimmies off his lap, having to maneuver awkwardly so she won't accidentally knee him but also to avoid losing her balance and falling off the bed entirely. “We should probably move up,” she points out, unsure of what to do with herself while Tatsuya heeds her request and scoots up until his back meets the headboard. “Right. Okay. So, uh, how do you want to go about this?”

He swallows, scratching behind his neck as he avoids her stare for a moment, clearing his throat. “Well…” he trails off, hesitantly returning his gaze to her, “we should probably start by getting rid of these.” He tugs at the belt loop of his pants to illustrate, and she feels her face heat up instantly even as she nods absently.

Turning around to tug off her shorts, (Name) coaches herself through evening out her breathing even though her heartbeat is drumming in her ears. She hesitates at the waistband of her underwear, thumbs hooked into the elastic but not pulling it off yet.

“Is it okay if you, uh, do this part?” She turns to look at Tatsuya over her shoulder, finding him paused in the middle of pulling his foot out of his jeans.

The look on his face softens and he nods slowly. “Sure. Just—just give me a second here.”

She isn't sure if he wants her to really see this or not so she turns around anyways until she can no longer hear the rustling of fabric. Tatsuya sits cross-legged on the bed in nothing but gray boxers, and she resolutely does not stare for too long at the bulge she can see straining against the fabric nor the wet patch growing on it.

“Figured we could do this bit for each other,” he says after a moment longer of silence, shrugging.

Absently, she nods and crawls over to the spot beside him, bare back resting against the cool wood of the headboard. “You, uh, wanna go on top?”

He nods. “If you're comfortable with that.”

“I am.”

“Okay.”

He takes her hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze though she can see that he's nervous too from how taut his shoulders are. Slowly, he leans over and kisses her again, humming when she gives his tongue easy access into her mouth. It takes some more shuffling around and groping at the sheets for them to really ease into lying down while trying to keep their mouths connected the whole time.

Only when her bead is comfortably rested against the pillow and he's settled himself over her do they pull apart. Tatsuya takes a moment to simply take her in, leaning into her touch with a smile when she reaches out to brush his hair away from his face. “Can I touch you?” he asks softly.

(Name) nods, and her breath immediately hitches when his fingertips ghost over her stomach, the muscles tensing under his touch as he glides his way upwards to the underside of her breasts and then down her sides again, shooting her a quick smile when he sees her watching him explore her body.

He maintains the eye contact the whole time as he slowly lowers himself, deliberately taking his time before finally taking one of her nipples into his mouth, palming the other breast. She exhales sharply, head falling back against the pillow and a breathy cry tumbling past her lips when he swirls his tongue experimentally.

“That feels so good, Tatsuya,” she manages in between ragged breaths, arching her back when he hums and sucks in acknowledgement, drawing out a sharp moan from her.

He's quick to switch his attention to her other peak, eagerly repeating the treatment now that he knows it's well-received. 

She whimpers underneath him, trembling at the simulation and arching into it with broken breaths of his name. Tatsuya releases the bud, trailing open-mouthed kisses to her collar bone and to her neck, teasing the skin that is still sensitive from his previous ministrations. He tugs at her thigh to better position himself between her legs, pressing himself against her as he does so.

Wrapping her legs around his waist to pull him closer, she threads her fingers through the silky strands of his hair, her hips bucking up to chase the simulation where she needs it most, drawing out a low groan from him against her skin.

He lifts his head up, pushing himself up on his forearms to be able to see her better. “Is it okay if I take these off now?” he asks, one hand resting against the waistband of her underwear, fingers hooking into the elastic as soon as she nods her consent. Tatsuya is careful in the way he eases them off her, gently tugging them from around her hips and then slowly pulling them off her legs. The whole process feels full of care and respect for her, and it's easier to come to terms with baring herself to him like this when he's so reverent of her vulnerability.

Exhaling slowly, she watches as he takes all of her in, fighting the urge to press her thighs together and hide away. _It's okay,_ she tells herself, and it is when he smiles at her.

“You're perfect,” he says like he has waited his whole life to say the words to her, and she holds her breath for as long as it takes the words to soak into her skin and take root around her heart.

His fingers tap against the inside of her thighs. “May I?” he asks.

Her heart feels like it's going to beat straight out of her chest, and at this point, she's overly aware of every sensation on her skin, but she nods. “Okay.”

Tatsuya nods back, leaning forwards to capture her lips with own, swallowing her gasp when his finger slips into her without any further warning. He waits a moment before adding a second, curling them experimentally inside her folds.

“ _Tatsuya,_ ” she whispers heatedly, clinging to his shoulders and trying to keep breathing when his fingers brush against her walls. He repeats the motion, more surely this time, watching her face for any adverse reaction the whole time when his fingers find the spongy spot inside her and press into it. (Name)’s eyes widen momentarily before shutting tightly as she arcs into his chest.

He's attentive to the spots that seem to draw out the most reactive responses from her and once he gets a better hold of what he's doing, Tatsuya focuses entirely on them, pacing himself with the repetitive motion while rubbing unrelenting circles around her clit.

(Name)’s fingers dig into the sheets for better purchase as she feels the result of his advancements building in her abdomen, clouding her mind of any coherent thought that isn't the ruthless simulation. Her skin feels aflame and at this point she feels _everything_ , blowing out her senses and leaving her gasping under him while he pulls her threads undone.

“ _Fuck,_ Tatsuya,” she hisses, an embarrassing moan she hadn't thought herself capable of wrenching itself free from her throat. “I'm so close. _So clo—_ ”

She ends up cutting herself off, her mouth falling open in a silent cry as her back arcs with the force of her orgasm, the winding build-up loosening in her tummy and leaving her completely breathless in the aftermath. She feels like she's has climbed a mountain and taken a headfirst dive right off the tallest peak and somehow survived it all, leaving her feeling invincible even in the ensuing tiredness.

Tatsuya blinks at his fingers still covered in her slick, actually looking surprised for once with what he managed to do. “Wow,” he mutters, sitting back on his haunches, seemingly in a daze.

Laughing breathlessly, (Name) nods, still trying to catch her breath. “Yeah. Wow.”

He grins, leaning forwards to loom over her again. “Think you can handle more?”

It's easier to relax now and let go of the fear that comes with inexperience. Tatsuya will handle her with care, and now, she wants to make this special and pleasurable for him too.

So she smiles back and nods. “We can't leave you hanging, can we?” she asks rhetorically, glancing pointedly at his straining erection that looks kind of painful now that she thinks about it.

Tatsuya grimaces like he's read her mind. “I'd appreciate if you didn't.”

She giggles, still on her high as she pushes him off by the palms of her hands and shifting her weight so she can loom over him instead. “Is it okay if I go on top this time?”

He looks mildly surprised but nods all the same. (Name) reaches for the foil she saw him place onto the bedside table earlier, tearing into the packaging while Tatsuya took it upon himself to tug off his own underwear, once again flinging them with unneeded strength, though neither of them could hear where they landed.

Taking a second to look him over, she clears her throat and meets Tatsuya's gaze.

“I don't know how to, uh, put this on you properly,” she informs, waving the condom and making him snort.

He grabs it from her, unrolling the rubber over his length with more ease than (Name) thinks she would've managed if she did it instead. “You ready?” Tatsuya asks her, holding onto her thigh to help her balance as she shuffled to straddle him.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she inhales deeply before nodding. “I am. You?”

“I'm ready,” he confirms, smiling softly.

The boy keeps a hold of her hip and thigh while she settles his the head of his cock near her entrance before slowly beginning to lower herself over him. As far as she could tell, Tatsuya didn't have an overwhelming length but she hadn't expected his girth to be stretching her walls out the way it did, making her pause for a moment to just take in the feeling of the strain.

Tatsuya stays quiet and admirably still the whole time it takes for her to completely take him in. “Are you okay?”

She nods sharply, chewing on her bottom lip and keeping a vicelike grip on his shoulders. “Just, uh, give me a moment. _Fuck._ ” Once the initial pain subsides, she exhales slowly, moving tentatively to make sure she could handle it. Then slowly beginning an up-and-down motion, she sets out to cautiously growing into a building pace.

Tatsuya exhales sharply once she settles into a comfortable speed, throwing his head back against the headboard and groaning at the squeeze of her walls around him. “You're so tight,” he hisses, clenching his jaw and involuntarily tightening his grip on her hips as well. “ _Shit,_ (Name).”

She's in no state of mind to really respond to him, too busy with chasing the pleasure in how deliciously he stretches her out and hits her sweet spot every time she goes down on him.

“You feel so good,” he gasps out, and she whimpers, falling forwards to bury her face in the crook of his neck as she keeps going, increasing her pace to a more fanatic one as they're both pushed closer to the edge. Tatsuya’s hips buck upwards to meet hers with every motion, driving himself further into her in the haze of simulation and ecstasy.

The heat between their bodies is an overwhelming burn that keeps building into something overpowering as every pinprick of sensation is magnified in the moment.

“I'm so close, Tatsuya,” she whispers, her voice breaking around a ragged moan that he feels more than he hears along his flushed skin.

“Me too. Holy shit, (Name), you're so good. Feel so good."

The coiling knot loosens abruptly, both teens hitting their peaks in close succession and slumping against each other while trying to blink past the fog of euphoric release. (Name) manages the strength to lift herself off him a final time before rolling over and falling into the space beside him, boneless, while trying to slow her heartbeat.

There’s a dull burn in her thighs from the exertion and even now she can register the throbbing in her pelvis, but it’s hard to think of anything at all when she’s still seeing stars in the edges of her vision and the sensitivity to everything is still messing with her ability to form coherent thoughts. It takes her a minute to really remember where she is and process what just happened when her skin is still tingling like she has been zapped with all the finer points of static electricity.

“Fucking hell,” Tatsuya breathes, his skin flushed and pupils blown wide as he peers down at her. “That was…” he trails off, eyes searching the dark room like it might provide him with some answers. None of his usual composure is anywhere in sight, and he gives up on trying to phrase whatever he’s feeling in favor of sliding down to lie on his back next to her, staring wide eyed at the ceiling of her hotel room like it has just revealed the secrets of the universe to him.

“I know,” she cuts in, laughing almost deliriously.

There are entire galaxies blooming to life inside her, taking up her brain edges and warping just under her skin to make her feel whole and alive and wide awake like she has never been before, her heart still racing in her chest and pumping a euphoric high through her veins that thrums in her fingertips and has her toes curling.

She’s so caught up in feeling like she has conquered the whole world that her brain barely registers Tatsuya shuffling out of bed and heading for the bathroom, and she blinks in confusion at him when he returns, holding a damp towel and a water bottle.

“Figured you wouldn’t want to sleep with all…that,” he says, vaguely gesturing at the fluids cooling along the inside of her thighs as he hands her the water bottle. “Want me to wipe you down?”

It hadn’t really registered with her that she was thirsty, but she does feel like she’s done the workout of a lifetime, so she accepts the bottle and nods in response to his question. She tries to stay relatively unmoving while he reaches over and methodically begins to wipe away the mess but the towel is cold against her flushed skin and he shoots her a grin when she squirms slightly even while she’s occupied with emptying half the contents of the water bottle.

“You can shower if you want to,” she tells him, passing the bottle back to him and falling back against the pillows, pulling back the covers and slipping into their warmth, the exhaustion finally beginning to set in now that the hormonal high is subsiding.

She feels the dip in the mattress as Tatsuya flops down, crawling into the space beside her and exhaling loudly in contentment. “Honestly, I really just want to roll over and pass out,” he admits, shifting onto his side and throwing out an arm around her lazily, pulling her close and pressing a kiss against her shoulder. “Unless you’re planning on kicking me out, I’d like to do just that.”

Rolling over so she can face him, (Name) reaches out to brush away the strands of dark hair that cling to his forehead, smiling at the way he watches her. “Stay,” she whispers, shuffling closer and melting against him, finding the warm buzz of peace thrumming in her heart.

Tatsuya is quiet for a long moment, but she knows he’s awake by the shapeless patterns he draws against her bare back. “Hey, (Name)?” he begins, smiling when she hums and meets his gaze. “Thank you for trusting me tonight.”

It’s meaningful and earnest in a way Tatsuya often isn’t, and she’s left breathless for just a second as she takes him in. Scooting forward to press a lingering kiss to his mouth, she hums in content. “Thank you for trusting me as well, Tatsuya.”

The relationship they share isn't one either of them expects to be something long-lasting or permanent, but in this way at least, they have made themselves each other's in a way that neither will ever forget.

For now, they are here, and that might be all they'll ever need to be.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If he closes his eyes, he can still picture her standing on that beach, watching the sunset with him, her cheeks flushed and eyes wide as she asks him to remember her.

(Name) doesn’t really know much about basketball from never having grown an interest in the sport. She knows the basics of the point system and she does go to school games sometimes if she and her friends have nothing better to do, but the intricacies of plays and some of the rules are lost on her.

Still, that doesn’t mean she can’t watch Tatsuya and not be able to tell immediately that he obviously knows what he’s doing and is actually really _good_ at the game too.

She doesn’t know if he has noticed her yet, watching from inside the rental car where it’s parked right by the open court, allowing her a great air-conditioned front-row seat. It is fun watching people in their elements; where they’re most comfortable and confident in their skills and talents, and it shows in the glow of joy and surety that makes them hard to look away from.

Leaning her cheek against her arm where she has folded them across the open window of the car, she smiles to herself, watching the boy she likes sink the ball into the basket with an infuriating blankness on his face that only seems to be pissing his opponent off even further.

Unfortunately, however, regardless of how hot she thinks he looks when playing, basketball still doesn’t interest her enough to watch such a one-sided match and find entertainment in it, so she turns to scrolling aimlessly through her phone instead.

Which is why she just about goes into cardiac arrest when, out of nowhere, Tatsuya is sliding smoothly across the hood of the car and all but throwing himself into the passenger seat of the cry. “You need to start driving immediately,” he tells her bluntly, and she’s so dazed that she actually listens completely mindlessly.

It’s the worst driving she has ever done, and to be completely honest, she did shriek very loudly when the boy Tatsuya had been playing against threw himself into the car’s path and she nearly ran him over, but by whatever divine mercy, they managed to leave the court behind with no homicide on their hands, and she’d count that as a win.

“Did you hit him?!” she asks, hysterical with adrenaline pumping in her veins, heart beating at a mile a minute and feeling like her whole life just flashed before her eyes.

Tatsuya—the little shit that he is—doesn’t look ruffled at all. If anything, his lips are twitching with mirth he’s trying to contain so she won’t yell at him, and (Name) stares at him incredulously when he shrugs in answer to her question. “Things like that happen sometimes in street ball,” he says like that explains everything. “It’s not a big deal.”

Scoffing, she shakes her head, trying to stop her hands from trembling against the steering wheel. “Tell that to my blood pressure.”

He grins, reaching over to pat her thigh placatingly, a small smile on his face and his eyes closed in the picture of serenity even as she speeds down the roads, barely within legal speed limits. “You’re a lifesaver, (Name). I’m glad you came so soon after my text.”

She doesn’t tell him that she’d been sitting around doing nothing in wait for him to call or message her. Instead, she huffs and shoots him a withering glare. “Nice to know you think of me as your getaway driver.”

“Wasn’t it a little romantic, though?” he suggests, tone complacent. “I’ve heard fear can often lead to bonding between people through being misconstrued as arousal.”

“Oh, shut up, Tatsuya.”

But with his laughter ringing in her ears, she can’t really pretend to stay mad for any longer, and as her heartbeat returns to normal, she finds herself trying to memorize this moment as she often does when she’s with Tatsuya, knowing it is another she will someday want to appreciate as the summer she will never forget.

She drives them to the beach which has become something of their usual haunt over the past three weeks they’ve spent together, and Tatsuya hops out of the car, already halfway into a stretch. His hand is reaching for hers by the time she rounds the car, and it’s practically second nature to take it, winding their fingers together loosely as they exit the parking lot and take off their shoes to walk barefoot in the sand.

“Did you spend all day looking for trouble with local basketball players or was there something else before you decided to do that?” she asks him, tugging him along to go closer to the shoreline.

“I don’t go _looking_ for trouble, (Name),” Tatsuya corrects. “It just happens to find me.”

Shooting him an unimpressed look, she purses her lips. “That’s because you provoke people.”

The smile on his face is crafted with perfect innocence and he widens his eyes for good measure, shaking his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“See, now you’re provoking me.”

“Oh, am I?”

He dips his head to bring his face closer to hers, very much leaning into her space as the ‘innocent’ look morphs into something that is openly mischievous. Tatsuya grins when he sees her resistance falter, darting closer faster than she can process and stealing a kiss before pulling away just as quickly, leaving her blinking in confusion at what just happened.

“Come on,” he says airily, pulling on her hand to lead the way, perfectly content with ignoring her as she grumbles under her breath.

They’re lucky to have come here in the evening when the sun has begun setting because the sand isn’t an intolerable heat beneath their feet and is actually comfortable to walk on barefoot.

“It’s a beautiful sunset, isn’t it?” he says, squinting at the pinks and crimsons that bleed into each other, staining the sky above them in their endless colors.

(Name) hums, smiling at the reflection of the rippling hues in the ocean. “You said the same thing on the day we met,” she recalls, thinking back to over three weeks ago when she stumbled upon a beautiful boy by the bay.

He glances over at her, quiet for a moment as he holds her gaze before shrugging and turning away. “I like sunsets.”

“A romantic at heart?” she quips, elbowing him lightly.

Chuckling, he looks pointedly at her, his eyes seeming brighter in the light. “You’d know just how romantic I am, wouldn’t you?”

Her grin fades into something that feels more melancholic than anything else, and Tatsuya straightens at the look on her face, the playful air between settling into the heavier undertones of the conversation. She sighs through her nose, turning away from him to look back at the scarlet ocean because it is easier for her to focus on right on.

“We have two more days here,” she says softly, feeling him tense at her side.

Tatsuya exhales slowly, like he’s steeling himself. “Does that make you sad?”

She thinks it over even though she already knows. Of course, it saddens her. The month she has spent in San Clemente has made her feel in ways she couldn’t have ever seen coming, but also could never regret. She has spent these weeks feeling different—more of who she wants to be; more of everything good.

The time she spent with Tatsuya had made her feel worthy and deserving and beautiful, and with him, she has learned to let go of some of her inhibitions and be freer. She has enjoyed every breath in every moment, and with the things she has learned about herself in this time, she thinks she has changed for the better too.

Close to her heart, the warmth of this summer burns and she feels like she has a secret she wants to shout to the world, but at the same time, no one needs to know and that is what’s so beautiful about it.

“A little bit, yeah,” she admits to him, braving a smile that doesn’t quite feel right with the lump in her throat. “But it’s okay. We knew it’d be coming.”

He opens his mouth to say something, but hesitates and ends up closing it again, frowning to himself as he seems to struggle with whether to give her false hope or possibly hurt her.

She makes the choice for him, squeezing his hand and shaking her head. “It’s okay, Tatsuya,” she assures him quietly. “We don’t need a promise of forever for whatever this is to be real and true.” Smiling up at him, she repeats, “It’s okay.”

His face softens, and he nods after a moment, shoulders relaxing. The air between them is tinged with something sad, but it is soft and warm and gentle with understanding, and the sky is beautiful, and they are at peace.

“I’m glad I met you,” he tells her, and his ears are a little pink in the aftermath of his moment of sincerity, and she’d laugh if she had it in her.

“Me too,” she whispers, letting him rest his forehead against hers. “Will you remember me?” she asks, feeling the need to know, the desperation to mean _something_ to him fueling her.

Tatsuya smiles, but it looks shaky even to her and he swallows as he nods jerkily. “Will you?”

“I could never forget,” she tells him, the answer ready at the tip of her tongue without her even having to think about it.

They might not have endured a great love, and they won’t push the limits of the time they have or fight for each other, but there doesn’t always have to be a beautiful struggle for something to be meaningful; life can just be beautiful.

Theirs was a sweet beginning, and she’s sure a bittersweet ending is what awaits them in the days to come, but that’s okay. She’ll cherish this; she’ll cherish it all the same.

* * *

Tatsuya watches LA turn into a flurry of golden dots underneath as the plane takes off, staring until they’re high enough for the city to have been left behind and covered by wispy clouds that only really make themselves at this altitude.

In under a week, this is the second time he feels the lurch in his chest and the painful breathlessness of leaving behind a part of his history that he knows he’ll miss for as long as it takes to get it back.

It is difficult to watch his home fade away into the inky darkness of the night with only cabin announcements and the rumbling of plane engines to offer any comfort, but he knows this goodbye at least is only temporary.

He has plenty to look forward to in returning to Japan. The taste of life in a boarding school, new people to meet and observe, a basketball team to join and train with and compete alongside, new competition in tournaments. And if all goes well, he’ll hopefully be able to find Taiga and demand that basketball match from him to figure out if Tatsuya has improved enough to surpass his brother’s natural talent for sport.

And once high school is over, he’ll return to America for university. Of course, he’ll miss his parents and the friends he’d made here, and he’ll definitely miss Alex and all the shenanigans his mentor likes to get into, but there is some solace in knowing that this isn’t strictly permanent. This goodbye, at least, is more of a ‘see you later’.

His mind drifts to the more permanent goodbye he has bidden this week, and Tatsuya sighs at the phantom warmth that clings to his memories of San Clemente.

Parting with (Name) had somehow managed to be both easy and difficult at the same time. Easy because they’d both known it was coming, the inevitable farewell hanging over them in their last days together even though neither of them addressed it until he was really leaving. And it had been hard because no amount of mental preparation could have prepared him for the treacherous hope fluttering between his ribs or the urge to ask her for more even though he knew better than that.

Tatsuya isn’t a very emotionally vulnerable person at the best of times. The emotions he does feel strongly often stem from aggression and frustration with himself or the world as a whole. When he’d caught sight of the pretty girl walking along the coastline and smiled at her, he’d been looking for someone to while the time away with. He hadn’t been expecting for her to interest him enough to the point where he would be looking forward to each day for the hours he would spend with her.

He hadn’t known how much he would enjoy edging her into a continuous back-and-forth of words and stolen glances. When he had offered her a simple greeting she could ignore if she wanted to, there had been no signs warning him of how easily she would enrapture him with her honest words and electric kisses. He had no way of knowing that this would be the girl he’d give himself to for the first time, spending nights in her bed and days under the sun with her, mind hazy with the sound of her laughter and summer heat.

Time seems to have flown by in hindsight, but with her it had like they’d had forever in the month they spent together.

If he closes his eyes, he can still picture her standing on that beach, watching the sunset with him, her cheeks flushed and eyes wide as she asks him to remember her.

The way she’d asked him had implied that Tatsuya had a choice; like he could forget if he wanted to. Except he doesn’t want to—he’ll never want to—but he wouldn’t have been able to even if he did.

She’d asked him on the day he was leaving if he thought they’d meet again. Tatsuya hadn’t known what to say, so he’d kissed her instead, but now he turns the question in his mind over and over again.

It’s subjective, he thinks.

To hope that he’ll see her again someday is a dangerous thing, and as tempting as it is, he doesn’t think the odds are in their favor on this matter. It sounds like something out of a wild fantasy—a wish; a dream.

But he’ll think of her every time he goes to a beach or gets into a fight after a streetball game. He’ll think of her whenever he sees the parking lot of a mall or goes to an ice cream parlor. He’ll think of her when he watches the sunset on a pier.

At night, when he wants someone to hold and to touch, he’ll close his eyes and remember being tangled up in her sheets with her, the electricity from her every touch searing into his skin and mind like a brand he’ll wear forever.

He questions if he’ll ever see her again and knows that she’ll plague his thoughts for quite a while, making sure he won’t ever forget what it felt like to be so caught up in someone, wishing to call them his own.

Tatsuya isn’t likely to ever forget (Name) (Surname).

He wonders if she’ll dream of him too.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her lips twitch up into a smile she can’t hide and he returns it, shifting closer to her so their shoulders are pressed together and his warmth is impossible to ignore. “Summer’s almost over,” she points out.
> 
> “I exist beyond that too.”
> 
> (Name) regards him carefully. “What exactly are you implying, Tatsuya?”
> 
> She knows already, of course, but she needs him to say it. She needs to hear confirmation that this isn’t something she’s getting into out of foolish hope and the space in her heart that the memory of him occupies.

Towards the end of the weekend trip she’d taken with her friends to Montauk, (Name) finds herself alone by the sea, watching the sun dip into the ocean from where she is seated on the cool sand.

It’s chilly for a late summer evening but the breeze feels pleasant against her skin after a full day under the sun, and she sighs, pressing her cheek into her arm as she tightens her hold around her knees. There are grains of sand clinging to her calves since she’d been standing in the water not too long ago and she decides that maybe another shower will be a good idea when she heads back to the cabin that they’ve rented for the night.

They’re planning on holding a bonfire in a few hours, probably with the help of the boys in the cabin a little ways from their own who had reportedly been trying to flirt with them. (Name) had seen them from a distance but hadn’t particularly felt like fooling around with a few cute boys today.

Evenings at the beach always put her in a bit of a mood and she didn’t want to drain any more energy after the fun-filled day she’d had. It’s probably better that she take some time to recharge away from the noise that comes with boisterous college students looking for a good time.

On her own, she doesn’t have to put up a fight against her own mind, giving into the temptation of thinking about another summer at the beach three years ago. After all the time that has passed since then, she doesn’t really feel a sense of regret or melancholy anymore. The heave in her chest is more out of a sense of nostalgia than anything else.

It’d been fun back then even if she’d spent quite some time afterwards wondering and regretting what could’ve been. In the long run, she’d returned just a little different from that trip, and that was perhaps the purpose of all summer romances—they change you in little ways that will always occupy a little bit of your heart.

The breeze picks up and she blinks, tossing her head to move some of her hair out her face.

Right. That was San Clemente, California, and this is Montauk, New York.

Things are different now.

But then she hears someone calling her name—a voice she last heard in person three years ago and only in her haziest dreams since then—and she has to wonder if she’s dreaming and nothing has changed at all.

She whips around hard enough to elicit some protest form her neck, but she can’t quite register anything when Tatsuya Himuro is staring back at her from only a few feet away, the golden glow of the setting sun kissing his skin much like it did when they were both sixteen.

“Tatsuya,” she says, dazed, convinced that she must have had a heatstroke and is now hallucinating because nothing about this makes sense to her.

But he smiles and all thought leaves her because he is just as beautiful as she remembers him being and she can only watch him blankly as he comes closer and drops down to the sand beside her, legs stretched out before him and looking far too relaxed for this situation.

“Your friends were wondering where you went, so I volunteered to go look for you,” he tells her, and his voice is richer than it used to be but he speaks in that same carefree manner that she still envies. “You know, just in case their (Name) turned out to be who I was hoping she’d be.” He turns to flash her a grin. “And here you are. Some luck, right?”

She flounders for a second, trying to reconcile with her reality while he watches, amusement blatant in his curved mouth and raised eyebrows. “I—What are you doing here?”

Tatsuya pulls his knees up, leaning back against his hands. “I’m here with my basketball team,” he tells her. “The guys wanted to hang out for the weekend, and well,” his smile becomes pointedly secretive, “I’ve always been rather fond of beaches.”

“You’re the boys from Columbia University,” she mumbles to herself, thinking back to the boys who’d approached her group. “You’re still playing ball then?”

He hums. “I’ve been considering an offer from the New York Knicks recently too,” he admits, “so if all goes well, I’ll go pro soon.”

“That’s great!” She straightens. “I’m excited for you.”

“Thanks.” His smile gentles into something smaller as he glances at her. “What about you? What have you been up to since I last you?”

She shrugs, turning back to the sea and eyeing the shades of red and orange that ripple across its surface, squinting at the specks of golden light that could blind her but don’t. “I’m majoring in journalism at NYU right now.” Offering him a thin smile, she adds, “Nothing quite that exciting.”

An unreadable look passes across his face but he covers it up with his usual amicable expression before she can try to read into it. “Had any other summer romances lately?” he asks, a measured playfulness that doesn’t seem genuine to her in his tone.

(Name) pauses, watching his face carefully before responding. “A few in other seasons, but none too recently. You?”

There’s a weight in the air between them now; a gravity that pulls and demands to be acknowledged, tingling with an energy she knows all too well.

Tatsuya hold her gaze steadily, an intensity she can’t ignore burning behind the deceptive calm of his façade. “Same as you, I suppose,” he comments, managing a light lilt in his voice despite the tension between them that makes it a little hard to breathe.

She stays silent for a long beat of time, chewing on what she should stay and what she wants to stay. Finally, she ends up blurting, “Do you still get into fights with strangers or was that a one-time thing?”

He looks surprised, like he hadn’t been expecting that at all, and the spell is broken when he snorts abruptly. “It’s not like I go looking for trouble, (Name),” he says.

“Trouble just finds you?” she finishes in his stead, eyebrows raised. “Yeah, I’ve heard that one before.”

The laughter washes away from his face, but the spark of it remains in the way he looks at her; fond and affectionate even now. “Sometimes more desirable things also happen to find their way to me,” he says, quiet even though his words ring in her ears. “I can’t really complain.”

She swallows, gaze flitting quickly to his mouth, getting caught on the mole below his bottom lip that she’d noticed even on the day she first met him, finding it somehow more tempting than the one under his right eye. When she meets his eyes again, it’s to find Tatsuya already studying her with a single-minded focus that makes her feel like her skin is on fire.

“Is that so?” she whispers, and from the way his features harden from being on guard, she knows she isn’t the only one distracted by the unspoken tautness in the air. She exhales slowly. “We’re leaving tomorrow, you know.”

Tatsuya doesn’t look fazed. “I know. It’s okay, though. You aren’t going to be across an ocean this time.”

Her lips twitch up into a smile she can’t hide and he returns it, shifting closer to her so their shoulders are pressed together and his warmth is impossible to ignore. “Summer’s almost over,” she points out.

“I exist beyond that too.”

(Name) regards him carefully. “What exactly are you implying, Tatsuya?”

She knows already, of course, but she needs him to say it. She needs to hear confirmation that this isn’t something she’s getting into out of foolish hope and the space in her heart that the memory of him occupies.

“I’m implying that we can be more than just a summer thing this time around,” he says, plain and to the point, but there’s a thickness in his voice that speaks of vulnerability and _hope_ that she’ll agree.

And she does. She gives into the temptation and the gravity that is still pulling her to him, and before she can think better of it, (Name) is leaning in to press her lips to his. With the taste of him on her tongue and his cold fingertips at the base of her neck, it’s almost like she’s back on the pier in San Clemente, kissing him for the first time.

But she isn’t. This is Montauk, years later, when they don’t have a time limit hanging over them. And she never lost him back then because he’d never been hers to begin with, but this is different.

He still smells of salt, his touch still sears into her in the most pleasant ways possible and the sunset is beautiful today too, but it’s all somehow different in a way that has her smiling against his mouth, their kiss unhurried because they have all the time in the world.

When he pulls away, Tatsuya is grinning at her, his lips swollen and cheeks a pale pink. “It’s a beautiful sunset today, isn’t it?”

The sunlight still catches against the darkness of his hair, but nothing is the same anymore and her heart beats in anticipation.

“It is,” she agrees, but she isn’t looking at the sun

His smile shifts into something else as he stares at her for a moment longer. Something secretive and amused. Like he knows something she hasn’t caught onto yet.

When she’d left the cabin to catch a moment for herself, (Name) hadn’t thought she’d end up meeting someone she thinks of every time she watches the sun set over a beach or when she catches sight of outdoor basketball courts, but she doesn’t think it’s a bad thing at all.

And, just like back then, Tatsuya seems to know something she doesn’t. She wonders if he’ll tell her.


End file.
